And Ever
by anniesparrow
Summary: After the events of Tales and the end of the Pre-Sequel, it is abundantly clear that their stories have only just begun.


Prologue

Silence filled the stretch of levitating pavement, and the close sun beat down on the bewildered crowd. Sanctuary seemed so small with everyone gathered around here, waiting for peace, war, violence, or some kind of answer, an absolution to a broken past that they knew would never come. Athena kept her cool, despite a wave of relief flooding over her. Her survival was not yet insured, surrounded by a raging mob, and worst of all, an angry siren. She payed no attention to the new arrival, and continued instead to look straight at the Firehawk, unafraid, unphased by any danger that faced her. If Athena was still going to die here, she wasn't going to die a frightened bandit, beaten by the corruption of Pandora. She was going to die a badass.

Lilith, in her less stoic fashion, gawked at the creature. She crossed her arms, intent on maintaining her cool, but couldn't help her jaw from hanging open at the sight of the alien figure. It's insectile body was shaped by a hard shell. It's head hung forward in an ominous fashion. It's torso was shielded in strange, energy based armor. It simply stood as well, looking not at her, but at the prisoner Athena. They did not need words. The tension of the moment hung low in the hot air and-

"What?" Brick shouted, breaking the thick silence of the moment, "War is coming?" He questioned, looking around to his friends, who gave him no aid to it's meaning. He then repeated, "What?"

The creature said nothing. In fact, it payed no attention to the Raiders. It focused only on the vault hunter tied to the post on the edge of the city, one foul blow from plummeting to the dunes of Pandora. It glided towards her in a gentle gate, and began to speak with it's cold voice,

"Athena, It's good to see you off of that moon."

Athena realized then that this was not her first meeting with the creature. When she had first arrived on Helios, long before Jack had died or Handsome Jack had been born, she had gone to Helios to work for a hero. Trying to escape, they encountered Colonel T. Zarpedon, who was protected by the now familiar brute. She did not respond, but instead shifted only her glare from Lilith to the creature.

"I have something very important to tell you," the beast whispered.

"Hey nice job on the cool magic tricks but this is still my prisoner," Lilith interjected, leaning onto her one hip to show her all-consuming sass, "And this is my town, these are my people, and this is my problem. So I'm afraid that this isn't your-"

With a wave of it's arm, the creature froze the scene, freezing Lilith, Brick, Mordecai, and every frightened citizen of the floating city, and leaving itself and Athena animated inside a small hazy bubble.

"Now," It cooed, "We can really talk."

"Who are you?" Athena demanded, "You look… _Eridian."_

"I am... a friend." It hummed back. Athena found herself actually having a difficult time looking directly at the creature, and she panned her glare at the frozen crowd surrounding them, "A series of events are about to occur that _must_ take place… A vault is opening… Chaos will be unleashed on Pandora… Many will die…"

"If you're telling me this is happening, then why can't I just stop it?" Athena demanded.

"Now is not the time for stupid questions little girl…" It growled, and Athena raised a brow, "If you fight against a current, the water will still forever flow forward… you will only be made more tired, and more _weak."_

"Just cut to the chase. What do you want from me?" Athena yelled, losing her patience.

"You have a choice..." It spoke, "You can fight alongside the vault hunters… fight the long stretching battle for what you might call the "good"..."

"Or…?" She posed.

"You can go back to the one you love, you can get married and live in peace… but you will never be able to help your… _allies_ again," It explained, very close to her now.

"Why? What does any of this matter right now?" She questioned.

"What do you know of the vault of the _Travelle_ r?"

"It's the one that I was helping the Hyperion dumbass and that nubille Vault Hunter open. They'll never make it, though, not with Vallory holding them," Athena told.

"The path has already been laid… the vault will open… the traveller will be destroyed…" It spoke with a calm certainty, "But what lies inside the vault is the key to the present… the past… and the future…"

"Why do you need me then?"

"You have the connections… and the information to convince these vault hunters to help the..." _Hyperion dumbas and nubile Vault Hunter_ " once they have followed their path, a new one will be laid. A path that will break peace, reinstill old plans, and change this galaxy forever,"

"Jesus Christ, I've had a really long goddamn day, could you cut off all of the cryptic bullshit?" Athena demanded, now thoroughly losing her cool.

"Where you must go, you cannot reach from any known point on this planet alone. Travel to the Dust, in which at this moment you should find the ameteur victory," It explained.

"Okay, ignoring the fact that you still have explained nothing to me, I can't help but ask how the hell you plan to send me to the Dust when we are currently in this crapshoot of a situatio-"

Before she could finish the sentence, Athena found herself no longer bound to the post on the cliff of the floating city. She no longer feld the weighted stare of the angry mob surrounding her, in fact, only her and the ethereal being stood here, purely alone. A purple haze surrounded them as they stood on the oh-so-familiar pandoran carpet of dust.

"I am the Watcher," It stated, "To answer your previous question,"

"Believe me there's a lot more where that came from," Athena breathed.

She turned around to examine her surroundings. Ash fell from the sky, and slag seemed to ooze from a nearby rock face. A roundabout road was no more than 20 yards away, meaning that a cath-a-ride wouldn't be far either. A cliff opposite the road hung with jagged purple rock, that contrary to pandoran scenery, was almost beautiful.

"Wait... This isn't the-" Athena started. She turned back to the Watcher, unsurprisingly had vanished. The Gladiator, still furious, continued to scream at nothing.

"This isn't the Dust! This is FUCKING ERIDIUM BLIGHT!" She yelled, kicking over a chunk of eridium nearby her feet, "Shit..." She mumbled, as she began to walking along the roadside.

She remembered her time back on Helios. Being a vault hunter meant guns, money, glory, and a whole lot of goddam walking. The thoughts of the simpler time were almost a comfort as she trudged on to the fast travel station.


End file.
